A recurrent motif in his work, Moualla’s large figural canvas explores collectivity. Untitled (1996) presents a dramatic visual theatre in an apparent stormy underworld. A herd of ghostly, faceless figures traverse turbulent skies, creating a sea of reds and oranges. His rich, warm colour palette meets with cool blue and grey hues, balancing the composition.

Ahmad Moualla (Syrian, b. 1958) is a leading postmodern artist of Syrian Expressionism. Renowned for his large-scale, theatrical figuration, he was the first to introduce performance in his work. Moaulla first showed his work at Atassi Gallery in 1997, with an exhibition entitled ‘A tribute to Saadallah Wannaous’ (a renowned Syrian playwright). As a child, Moualla and his brothers would put on plays with elaborate sets that used props from their house. Their parents would host large gatherings where different ideologies and politics were discussed. These experiences laid the foundation for the themes of his later work, which revolved around the theatre, society, and authority: “The crowd is part of my soul. Painting is a crowd of colours, strokes and expressions. I worked a lot on the subject of the herd and the individual, the individual as a prophet, or a criminal, a leader or a creator. Our history is full of individual heroes or dictators.” His most recent works incorporate calligraphic elements to explore similar themes. He often uses the text of activist poets to create layers of meaning; other times his calligraphic paintings are illegible, serving only as texture.

An artist, designer, and scenographer, he studied classical calligraphy, graphics, and visual communication. He graduated from the University of Damascus’s Faculty of Fine Arts, where he would later become a lecturer. He also studied at École des Beaux-Arts in Paris. His skill for scenography led him to work on a number of films and TV series, also designing numerous productions for the Syrian National Theatre. Moualla has shown his work internationally including at the Green Art Gallery, Dubai; Municipality of Athens – Center of the Arts; MODEM Centre for Modern and Contemporary Arts in Debrecen, Hungary; Sundaram Tagore Gallery, Hong Kong; Contemporary Istanbul and Souq Waqif, Qatar.